Dantonio admits soggy victory will be difficult to evaluate

Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said he was impressed at Javon Ringer's performance in very wet conditions.

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio spoke to reporters briefly on Sunday evening about his team's 17-0 win over Florida Atlantic and gave a short statement about Notre Dame, MSU's opponent this weekend.

On whether Dantonio was able to learn much about his team after it played in sloppy weather conditions: "There's still learning because you're still looking at the film and trying to evaluate where they were going, regardless of whether it was a power play or a pass play or a defense, you're still evaluating what we did. It's a tough one to call because it was pretty rainy out there."

Could MSU have prepared better for the weather? The Spartans attempted to replicate rainy conditions during a Thursday practice, but it proved not to be enough when Saturday arrived.

"I think Coach (Pat) Narduzzi said, 'When we put the water in the bucket, maybe we should have sprayed everybody down with the hose,'" Dantonio said. "It was tough to simulate those things. We did the best we could, but it was a little bit windy for a while there, too. ? I think the amazing thing was how (Javon) Ringer ran the football in wet conditions. If you watch the film, he had his feet up under him and was able to make hard cuts. It's tough to tackle somebody when they're doing that."

On the overall lesson learned from the game:? "I think that we can persevere a little bit, but I still think we haven't played our best football game yet. We left some things on the field against Cal. It's tough to evaluate us in this game totally and in the Eastern Michigan game I thought we played well, especially in the second half. We're going to find out how good we are as we enter these next couple of games."

Early thoughts on Notre Dame: "They're 2-0; their quarterback is playing much better. You can tell he's in his second year and he's much improved. They look like they have big-play potential and they're playing with a lot of confidence."

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Dantonio admits soggy victory will be difficult to evaluate

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio spoke to reporters briefly on Sunday evening about his team's 17-0 win over Florida Atlantic and gave a short statement about Notre Dame, MSU's opponent this